In a shocking development, several people, including children, were attacked with knives in a town in the French Alps on Thursday. The attacker, whose identity has not been released, has been arrested, according to officials.
Taking to the microblogging site, French President Emmanuel Macron termed the incident a “cowardly attack on children”. Condemning the heinous act, Macron said emergency services had been activated.
“Absolutely cowardly attack this morning in a park in Annecy. Children and an adult are between life and death. The country is in shock. Our thoughts are with them as well as their families and the emergency services,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the attack took place in a square on Annecy’s lakefront. In a short tweet, he said that the police have taken the attacker into custody. “A man armed with a knife has injured several people, including children, in a square in Annecy,” he tweeted.
Children were playing before the stabbing incident
Witnesses said that some of the children looked very young. One person who spoke to broadcaster BFMTV said he saw first aiders working on a “little body of maybe 3 or 4 years old”. Antoine Armand, a local MP, said the children were attacked in a playground. Speaking to BFMTV from the National Assembly building in Paris, he said the victims included “very young” children and that they had been “brutally attacked”. He said the attack happened near a primary school.
An official from the national police and the interior ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the developing situation, both said that four children were among the injured.
Police said two children suffered life-threatening injuries and the other two had minor injuries. Police said an adult also suffered life-threatening injuries. Multiple media reported that the attacker was a Syrian with asylum refugee status– a claim that officials have yet to confirm.
Both police and interior ministry officials cautioned that the number of injured could rise as full details are not yet clear. In Paris, lawmakers interrupted a debate to hold a moment’s silence for the victims. Assembly Speaker, Yael Braun-Pivett, said: “There are some very young children who are in critical condition and I invite you to observe a minute’s silence for them, for their families, and so that, we hope , The result of this very serious attack does not make the country sad.
(with inputs from agencies)
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